Reel News

The Irish actor's co-star Meryl Streep may also make an appearance when filming begins there and on the neighboring island of Skopelos on Aug. 29, a production official said on condition of anonymity.

The film is hoping to recreate the success of the British musical, created in 1999 using songs by hit Swedish band Abba.

The story revolves around a young girl who is about to get married and decides to track down the father she never knew.

Brosnan, best known for his slick portrayal of 007, will play - and sing - one of her possible dads and Streep will play her mother.

Tom Hanks is producing the film, due to be screened next year, and the stage musical's British creator, Phyllida Lloyd, will direct, according to the Hollywood trade press.

Two Chinese filmmakers said Wednesday that the release of their film Lost in Beijing (蘋果), which explores urban-rural tensions, has been delayed because of a propaganda campaign in the run-up to a key Chinese Communist Party meeting.

Producer Fang Li (方勵) said China's Film Bureau has lined up a series of "ethically inspiring" movies to set the tone for the Chinese Communist Party's upcoming congress, which is expected to set the agenda for the party and country for the next five years and produce some leadership changes.

"If Lost in Beijing is released under these circumstances, it's obviously not conducive to harmony. It's noise. So the Film Bureau asked our distributor, Beijing Polybona, to delay the release of the movie,'' Fang said.

Lost in Beijing is about the fallout after a Beijing foot massage parlor owner rapes one of his employees, a migrant worker from the countryside. The film stars Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Ka-fai (梁家輝).

While Lost in Beijing has cleared censors, the Chinese Film Bureau is worried that the movie will provoke a "negative social reaction," Fang said.